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Azaxul – Echoes Of Dreariness

azaxul – echoes of dreariness

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Despite both bands having also existed simultaneously and side-by-side for a brief moment, Azaxul only really came to life when Moonblood was carried to its grave in 1999. Only then Azaxul (also known as Gaamalzagoth or Profano Mysteriis) seemed to have been able to clear his head enough for his solo work. But despite Azaxul being created back in 1997, it took until 2016 for the first album to be realised. That debut album was preceded only by two demos and a split 7″ with S.V.E.S.T. on the renowned Sombre Records label. Indeed, very different from how highly productive Moonblood was…

Without necessarily needing to, it is good to take stock now that Azaxul is on its third album with ‘Echoes Of Dreariness’. The two Moonblood musicians have each gone their ways, with Gaamalzagoth clearly staying closest to the musical core of that German Raw Black Metal Cult. Although Nachtefalke, of Moonblood’s other half, Occulta Mors, has also contributed plenty to the German underground extreme metal scene in his own right, it is clearly on a different plane. There is nothing of Bathory’s Viking-era-like epic grandeur on any of Azaxul’s releases.

Azaxul’s soul, as a musical entity, is hidden in its particularly strong and icy riffs and excellent song writing. The Raw Black Metal definitely merits comparison with Moonblood, although it is also unquestionably a clear step forward when it comes down to the effectiveness of the riffs. The matching raw production, with a careful layer of reverb, means that actually all the songs have an even impact and the album coalesces into a small masterpiece of riff-driven Raw Black Metal. Azaxul definitely showed to be capable of forging some of the best Black Metal riffs in the history of German Black Metal, making (another) comparison to Moonblood on the next album completely unnecessary. If he has proven anything with ‘Echoes Of Dreariness’, then it is that Azaxul can properly and completely stand on its own two feet, free from all historical comparison or equation.

Azaxul

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